LOW PROFILE BLEED AIR COOLER
A bleed air cooler assembly of a gas turbine engine comprises a cooler body defining a fluid passage therein and a connector detachably affixed with the cooler body installed in an annular bypass air passage.
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The invention relates generally to a gas turbine engine and more particularly, to an improved bleed air cooler assembly for cooling compressed bleed air in a gas turbine engine.
BACKGROUND OF THE ARTAn aircraft gas turbine engine produces compressed air to be delivered to a combustor for combustion. Compressed air bled from the main source is delivered to various locations for other applications. For example, some aircraft require bleed air to be delivered to pressurize the aircraft cabin. In such a case, the bleed air, which has a relatively high temperature, must be cooled to a comfortable level for the passengers in the aircraft cabin. The compressed bleed air may be cooled outside of the gas turbine engine before it is introduced to the aircraft cabin. However, it is desirable to have such compressed bleed air cooled within the gas turbine engine.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide an improved bleed air cooling for a gas turbine engine.
SUMMARYIn one aspect, there is provided a bleed air cooler assembly for cooling compressed bleed air in an outer bypass duct of a gas turbine engine which comprises a cooler body defining a fluid passage within the cooler body and having a low profile for being positioned in an annulus between the outer bypass duct and a gas generator case; and a connector detachably affixed to the cooler body and having an inlet and an outlet in fluid communication with the fluid passage of the cooler body, the connector adapted to be detachably supported within the annulus to allow the compressed bleed air from a compressed air plenum within the gas generator case to be introduced through the inlet and to be cooled in the fluid passage of the cooler body and to then be discharged out of the outer bypass duct through the outlet
In another aspect, there is provided a kit for a bleed air cooler assembly to be selectively installed in an annulus between an outer bypass duct and a gas generator case of a gas turbine engine which comprises a cooler body defining a fluid passage within the cooler body and having a low profile permitting positioning of same within the annulus; a connector detachably affixed to the cooler body to form the bleed air cooler assembly, the connector having an inlet and an outlet in fluid communication with the fluid passage of the cooler body, the connector with the cooler body adapted to be selectively installed in one of first and second locations in the annulus, aligning with an aperture defined in the outer bypass duct in each of the locations, to allow the compressed bleed air from a compressed air plenum within the gas generator case to be introduced through the inlet and to be cooled in the fluid passage of the cooler body and to then be discharged out of the outer bypass duct through the outlet; and a spacer defining a fluid passage having an inlet and an outlet and extending through the spacer, the spacer adapted to be selectively installed in the other of the first and second locations in the annulus, aligning with the aperture defined in the outer bypass duct in each of the locations, to allow the compressed bleed air from the compressed air plenum within the gas generator case to flow through the fluid passage of the spacer out of the outer bypass duct, without being cooled.
In a further aspect, there is provided a method for installing a bleed air cooler assembly in an annulus between an outer bypass duct and a gas generator case of a gas turbine engine which comprises: (a) providing a low profile bleed air cooler assembly; (b) inserting the bleed air cooler assembly into the annulus from an aft opening of the outer bypass duct, to align a connecting portion of the assembly with an aperture defined in the outer bypass duct, thereby allowing an outlet of the assembly to be connected to an external tube out of the outer bypass duct and to allow an inlet of the assembly to be connected to a compressed air plenum within the gas generator case; and (c) securing the connecting portion of the assembly to at least the gas generator case.
Further details of these and other aspects will be apparent from the detailed description and figures included below.
Reference is now made to the accompanying figures, in which:
Reference is now made to
The bleed air cooler assembly 36 and the spacer 40 are positioned at respective right and left sides of the engine as shown in
In
The inlet 54 and outlet 56 are defined in substantially parallel opposite surfaces (not indicated) of the connector 52 and are in fluid communication with apertures 55 defined in the respective opposite sides of the connector 52 (See
The two halves 58 and 60 of the shell provide a large contact area to both the hot bleed air flowing through the inside of the cooler body 44 and to the relatively cool bypass air flowing within the annular bypass passage 28 for heat exchange. For a better heat exchange result, a plurality of fins may be provided to the two halves 58, 60 of shell at both inside and outside thereof. The bleed air cooler assembly 36 may be fastened together by fasteners such as screws which are -not shown. The connector 52 also defines a mounting hole 66 and a mounting recess 68 at a front end thereof for receiving fasteners to mount the bleed air cooler assembly 36 to the engine.
In addition to compressed bleed air passages needed to radially cross the annular bypass air passages 28 there are also oil passages to extend across the annular bypass air passage 28 to connect components of an oil system of the engine located outside of the housing or nacelle 10, such as oil pumps, oil reservoirs, etc. and internal components of the engine which need to be cooled and lubricated by oil such as bearing chambers, etc. In this embodiment, a fairing member 70 (see
Reference is made to
In installation of the bleed air cooler assembly 36, the bleed air cooler assembly 36 may be inserted into the annular bypass air passage 28 from an open end 90 (see
After installation of the bleed air cooler assembly 36 is completed, the radial portion 74 of the fairing member 70 is positioned immediately upstream of the connector 52 and the cooler body 44 extends downstream from the connector 52. Therefore, the fairing member 70 and the bleed air cooler assembly 36 in combination provide an aerodynamic fairing profile to reduce resistance to the bypass air flow.
Seal rings 94 as indicated in
Now reference is made to
When the bleed air cooler assembly 36 or the spacer 40 needs to be removed from the engine, for example, for repair or maintenance, it can be easily done by loosening the mounting screw 89 and removing mounting screw 92 and then withdrawing the bleed air cooler assembly 36 or the spacer 40 without disturbing the oil line connection through the fairing member 70. The bleed air cooling assembly 36 or spacer 40 may also be placed back in the position (as previously described) without disturbing the oil line connection through the fairing member 70. Therefore, there is no need for an oil leakage check on the oil line connection through the fairing member 70 after either removing or installing the bleed air cooler assembly 36 or spacer 40. It is also allows interchange ability between the left- and right-installation positions of the bleed air cooler assembly 36 and spacer 40, depending on whether the engine is to be installed in a left- or a right-hand mounting position in a twin-engine aircraft. This option allows fewer-parts-count engine for use in twin-engine aircraft, by obviating the need to provide specific left- and right-configurations for the engine. Rather, a generic engine configuration may be provided, and the interchangeability of the cooler and spacer allow the assembler to determine whether a left- or right-hand engine will be provided during assembly, based on which parts are installed where.
It should be understood that the cooler body may be configured differently from the embodiments illustrated and described above, but a low profile configuration is preferably maintained in order to allow the assembly to be positioned within the annular bypass air passage of the engine and yet provides adequate cooling performance. In addition to means such as inner and outer fins for increasing heat exchanging surfaces, it is optional to have the cooler body and thus the entire bleed air cooler assembly smaller in a radial direction of the engine than other dimensions of the assembly in respect of the longitudinal and circumferential directions of the engine. For example, instead of having the cooler body extending downstream in the annular bypass air passage to increase the length of the internal fluid passage in the cooler body as described in the embodiment of the present invention, the cooler body may extend circumferentially within the annular bypass air passage of the engine in one or both circumferential directions. For example, one of such embodiments is further described below.
Referring to
The above description is meant to be exemplary only, and one skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made to the embodiments described without departure from the scope of the invention disclosed. For example, the cooler body and connector of the bleed air cooler assembly may be made from any suitable materials providing appropriate thermal conductivity and mechanical strength. Still other modifications which fall within the scope of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, in light of a review of this disclosure, and such modifications are intended to fall within the appended claims.
Claims
1. A bleed air cooler assembly for cooling compressed bleed air in an outer bypass duct of a gas turbine engine, comprising:
- a cooler body defining a fluid passage within the cooler body and having a low profile for being positioned in an annulus between the outer bypass duct and a gas generator case and
- a connector detachably affixed to the cooler body and having an inlet and an outlet in fluid communication with the fluid passage of the cooler body, the connector adapted to be detachably supported within the annulus to allow the compressed bleed air from a compressed air plenum within the gas generator case to be introduced through the inlet and to be cooled in the fluid passage of the cooler body and to then be discharged out of the outer bypass duct through the outlet.
2. The assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein the cooler body comprises a partition positioned within a cavity defined in the cooler body, the partition dividing the cavity into first and second sections, the first and second sections in fluid communication with each other and with the respective inlet and outlet to form the fluid passage of the cooler body.
3. The assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein the connector is affixed to one end of the cooler body and defines the outlet and inlet on opposite surfaces of the connector.
4. The assembly as defined in claim 3 wherein the first and second sections of the cavity are in fluid communication with each other at a distal end of the cooler body with respect to the connector.
5. The assembly as defined in claim 3 wherein the bleed air cooler assembly has a dimension in a radial direction of the engine which is smaller than dimensions of the assembly in respective longitudinal and circumferential directions of the engine.
6. The assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein the cooler body comprises two halves of a shell.
7. The assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein the cooler body comprises a plurality of fin members extending both inwardly into the cavity and outwardly into the annulus.
8. A kit for a bleed air cooler assembly to be selectively installed in an annulus between an outer bypass duct and a gas generator case of a gas turbine engine, comprising:
- a cooler body defining a fluid passage to be positioned within the annulus;
- a connector detachably affixed to the cooler body to form the bleed air cooler assembly, the connector having an inlet and an outlet in fluid communication with the fluid passage of the cooler body, the connector with the cooler body adapted to be selectively installed in one of first and second locations in the annulus, aligning with an aperture defined in the outer bypass duct in each of the locations, to allow the compressed bleed air from a compressed air plenum within the gas generator case to be introduced through the inlet and to be cooled in the fluid passage of the cooler body and to then be discharged out of the outer bypass duct through the outlet; and
- a spacer defining a fluid passage having an inlet and an outlet and extending through the spacer, the spacer adapted to be selectively installed in the other of the first and second locations in the annulus, aligning with the aperture defined in the outer bypass duct in each of the locations to allow the compressed bleed air from the compressed air plenum within the gas generator case to flow through the fluid passage of the spacer out of the outer bypass duct, without being cooled.
9. The kit as defined in claim 8 wherein the spacer and the connector have a similar outer profile.
10. The kit as defined in claim 8 further comprising at least one fairing member adapted to be installed in the aperture defined in the outer bypass duct in either the first or the second locations, the fairing member extending into the annulus upstream of the selectively installed one of the bleed air cooler assembly and the spacer, the fairing member defining an oil passage extending through the faring member to be connected with an oil system of the engine, for directing an oil flow radially through the annulus.
11. The kit as defined in claim 9 wherein the fairing member comprises a radial portion defining the oil passage, and an axial portion extending from the radial portion for mating with an outer surface of the selectively installed one of the bleed air cooler assembly and the spacer, a bleed air supply tube affixed in the axial portion of the fairing member adapted for aligning with the outlet of the selectively installed one of the bleed air cooler assembly and the spacer.
12. The kit as defined in claim 8 further comprising a partition to be positioned within a cavity of the cooler body to divide the cavity into two sections in fluid communication with each other, thereby forming the fluid passage defined in the cooler body.
13. The kit as defined in claim 11 further comprising two halves of a shell to be joined to form the cooler body.
14. A method for installing a bleed air cooler assembly in an annulus between an outer bypass duct and a gas generator case of a gas turbine engine, comprising:
- a) providing a low profile bleed air cooler assembly;
- b) inserting the bleed air cooler assembly into the annulus from an aft opening of the outer bypass duct, to align a connecting portion of the assembly with an aperture defined in the outer bypass duct, thereby allowing an outlet of the assembly to be connected to an external tube out of the outer bypass duct and to allow an inlet of the assembly to be connected to a compressed air plenum within the gas generator case; and
- c) securing the connecting portion of the assembly to at least the gas generator case.
15. The method as defined in claim 14 wherein the connecting portion of the assembly is positioned in coordination with a fairing member located within the aperture defined in the outer bypass duct the fairing member defining an oil flow connection extending radially through the annulus and defining an outlet extension with respect to the outlet of the assembly.
16. The method as defined in claim 15 wherein the connecting portion of the assembly is positioned axially behind a radial portion of the fairing member and radially between a mounting surface of the gas generator case and an axial portion extending rearwardly from the radial portion of the fairing member, aligning the inlet of the assembly with an aperture defined in the gas generator case and aligning the outlet of the assembly with the outlet extension of the axial portion of the fairing member.
Type: Application
Filed: May 3, 2007
Publication Date: Nov 6, 2008
Patent Grant number: 7862293
Applicant: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP. (Longueuil)
Inventor: Bryan W. OLVER (Nobleton)
Application Number: 11/743,935
International Classification: F02K 11/00 (20060101);